FINE ART: from the 19th century to Modern Art, Eastern European art, Ballets Russes, important icons - David Hockney, Kotarbinsky, Nesterov, Goncharova, Deineka, Vysotsky Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 14:30
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[CRIMEAN WAR] UNKNOWN ARTIST Portrait of Andrei Nikolaevich Karamzin (1814–1854)

Lot 69
10 00015 000
salt print, hand-coloured with watercolour 18 × 14.7 cm (sight); frame: 24.5 × 20.9 cm executed in 1854 Taken shortly before his departure for the theatre of war, this is a rare example of early Russian photography. Colonel Karamzin, the son of the celebrated historian Nikolai Karamzin, studied law at the University of Dorpat and moved in literary circles that included Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol. In 1844 he volunteered for service in the Caucasus, later becoming director of mining operations in Nizhny Tagil. With the outbreak of the Crimean War, he volunteered for the Balkan campaign, joining the Alexandrian Hussar Regiment as a colonel in January 1854. He was killed in action near Karakul in May of that year.


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